CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Eric Sanders threw for a career-high
311 yards and three touchdowns while completing all but two of his
passes, leading Northern Iowa to a 49-14 victory over
Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday night.
All three of Sanders' touchdown passes came during a 28-point
second quarter that sent the Panthers (2-0) to their second
straight lopsided victory. They beat Drake 52-17 in their opener.
Sanders finished 12 of 14 with no interceptions and threw
scoring passes of 41 yards to Brian Cutright, 57 yards to Patrick
Hunter and 26 yards to Justin Surrency.
For the season, Sanders is 26-for-31 for 600 yards and six TDs.
His previous career best was 289 yards against Drake.
Minnesota-Duluth (2-1) drew to 21-7 on Ted Schlafke's 4-yard TD
pass to Mark Slinden with 4:27 left in the second quarter. But
Sanders came back with his touchdown pass to Surrency less than 90
seconds later and the Panthers scored again on Terrance Freeney's
1-yard run for a 35-7 halftime lead.
UNI coach Mark Farley began substituting after David Horne ran
33 yards for a touchdown with 9:09 left in the third quarter.
Horne, a transfer from Nebraska, led the Panthers in rushing with
57 yards on only four carries.
Schlafke, a freshman, was 28 of 42 for 212 yards, including a
7-yard toss to Tony Doherty for a touchdown with 5 seconds left.
The Bulldogs had to rely almost entirely on Schlafke's passing.
They rushed for just 62 yards and were outgained 523-274.